


Deprived

by Corveille



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Badass Upgraded Connor | RK900, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Gang Violence, Gavin Reed is a Mess, Gavin and his caustic emotions, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Missions Gone Wrong, Protective Gavin Reed, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-12-30 07:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18311087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corveille/pseuds/Corveille
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy stake-out. See if a suspect connected to their on-going Red Ice case showed up to meet with a dealer and, with any luck, bring not only one but a neat pair of drug criminals back to the station, simple.He should’ve fucking known...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This probably has already been done before but the idea just wouldn't leave my head so I decided to write it down and post it, instead of, you know, doing college work. Go me.
> 
> Sorry if you find any mistakes, wrote it on a rush, English is not my first language and...uh, guess that's it.  
> I'll probably review it again later to see if I missed something.
> 
> Enjoy.

“Where the fuck did you take him?!” Gavin yelled for the third time in less than ten minutes, voice carrying over the interrogation room as he slammed both hand in front of the man opposite to him. The chair screeched loudly as he stood up, eyes hard and burning with barely concealed anger.

The man didn’t even flinch at the noise, choosing to abuse his right to remain silent to the best of his ability, instead and never before had Gavin wanted to shoot someone more than at this very moment.

Not even Connor had made him come close to what he was feeling right now and most officers knew just how little he would put up with the android’s antics on regular basis.

His hand was literally itching to get a hold of his gun just to see if the sight of a weapon to his head would make the shithead cave in. No matter what he tried, the fucking prick just wouldn’t speak up and they didn’t exactly have time to deal with a thirty-something man-child going through his rebel phase again.

Every minute this son of a bitch refused to talk was putting Nines in more danger.

 “I’m not going to ask again; you either tell me what I want to know or I’m beating it out of you,” that finally got a reaction out of him. The perp's face lifted up to dig daggers into Gavin, giving him a clear view of the broken nose the guy now sported, courtesy of non-other than himself. He could almost feel the stains of blood on his bruised knuckles, even now, and would certainly not mind giving him another fractured cartilage to match with the one he already had.

“Wouldn’t like that, hmm? All you have to do is open that mouth of yours…”

This shouldn't have happened to begin with.

It was supposed to be an easy stake-out. See if a suspect connected to their on-going Red Ice case showed up to meet with a dealer and, with any luck, bring not only one but a neat pair of drug criminals back to the station, simple.

He should’ve fucking known...

Nines had sense that something wasn’t quite right but Gavin had dismissed his idea for back-up, confident in their own skill to deal with this alone. Out of everything it could’ve been of course it just had to be an ambush, whole fucking gang had been there ready to meet them. The only reason he was here right now was because Nines had taken a bullet meant for him, had knocked out this fucker who had tried to knife him in the back, as well.

But he had to give it to them, bastards had come up prepared. They used stun batons and Taser guns on Nines then loaded him into a car, all while he hid behind a dumpster like a coward because they wouldn’t stop shooting in his general area.

All because of his fucking pride.

The sound of sirens was enough to distract them. It was all pure luck the others left the unconscious one behind, deeming it too much of a risk to face more than a beat-up detective just to help out one of their peers.

“Where. Is he?”

It had all happened over an hour ago, and all they’ve gained from the asshole sitting here in that span of time were heated glares and lips locked so tight, it wouldn’t come as shock if it turned out someone had superglued them together.

He shouldn’t even be here according to Fowler, _too emotionally distraught his ass_. This was their case and fuck if he was letting that hard-boiled prick tell him what he was allowed and not allowed to do when _his_ partner could be dead for all he knew.

In the silence that hung around them, Gavin's body was becoming numb to everything except the rage building up inside of him. At his partner for getting in the way, at this entire situation they’d both been caught in, but mostly at himself, for making such a stupid mistake.

 

“ _FUCKING TALK!”_

“Detective,” in his desperation, Gavin had failed to notice Connor entering the room. With the way he was looking at him, he guessed the android had been standing there for a while. Posture stiff with hands behind his back, face unreadable to the untrained eye but he knew there was clear buried concerned in the android's gaze, for him or for his better-self Gavin couldn’t tell.

“What is it, plastic?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the perp chained to the table, who was now staring intently at the new company in the room. “Tell me something good or fuck off.”

“We know where Nines is,” His head turned to the android at the same time he heard the tell-tale clink of chains colliding against metal. Their man was watching Connor with so much hate in his look, hands clenched tightly into fits when the tin can wouldn’t even glance at his direction.

Would you look at that? Dipshit could brush off threats, harsh words and promises of a beating but that single sentence had him breaking into a sweat, interesting. “We looked through Mr. Bosch’s phone. They were clever to use code names for most of the meeting places but with the information gathered I was able—.”

“I don’t need the fucking specifics, get to the point,” Gavin said, exasperation finally getting to him.

“Based on the recent text messages and Nines last known location sent before the signal got interrupted, we think the culprits are hiding in an old house on the edge of the city.”

 “The fuck are we waiting here for then?!” He slammed his hand on the panel, wanting to just force the door open himself as Connor followed his lead. Even if it was just speculation, it was still better than having nothing to go for.

“You won’t find him in time,” _oh call the fucking news_ , _he_ _speaks._ Too bad it was only to spill some bullshit he couldn’t really find the energy to give a fuck about.

  _“You_ are going to shut the hell up since you seem pretty good at that,” he said before looking back at the tin can next to him, “ _we_ are going to bring that idiot back and once we deal with your little buddies there,” Gavin walked closer to the man again, jabbing a finger at his chest, “you and I are gonna have a nice, long talk.” With those words he left Bosch to be some other poor soul’s problem, let him rot in a cell for all he cared.

Like hell Gavin was leaving things like this between them, he wasn’t owning an android anything.

Nines had saved his life back there.

Now he was going to return the favor.

 

* * *

 

 

It had taken them way too long to get there in Gavin’s opinion. Fifty minutes too fucking many to reach the location on the GPS. He couldn’t help but grip his jeans between his fingers, snails scraping the fabric relentlessly as he saw officers get in position to burst inside the damned construction.

His index finger was tapping against his thigh every five seconds or so against his will, the urge to go for a cigarette strong in his brain, but it was not the time nor place for that nervous tic of his to make itself known.

Anderson glanced at him from the corner of his eye, Connor right next to him like a royal plastic puppy. Gavin wanted to scream at him to mind his own business but his head was a mess and his tongue didn’t feel like cooperating with him, not now.

“We’ll find him,” Oh so he thought he was nervous about that, the old man got it wrong. It was not the chance of not finding Nines but rather, the state in which they could find him what was making Gavin so twitchy. He’d seen how far these Red ice traffickers would go just to get a few drops of thirium from an android. Almost wanted to ask the plastic prick over there for statistics but somehow he knew, not matter how low of a number he got, it wouldn’t help to calm him down.

He wondered just when he became so attached to a tin can—My analysis shows you got sick with the flu, detective. You should lay in bed until you feel better, work can wait — maybe when that toaster started really giving a shit about him. —Wait, wait, you mean to tell me you never taste alcohol before? While being in close proximity to someone like Anderson? The fuck you got your freedom for? — maybe at the same time he started seeing Nines as someone instead of something.

The area was quiet, way too much for it to be normal. The fact that they hadn’t been showered in bullets the moment his team set a foot in wasn’t making him feel any safer.

After the first ‘clear’ he rushed in, they quickly got there was the first floor, a basement and a second floor in the house. Connor and Anderson went downstairs with Miller while the rest continued clearing the first floor.

Ten minutes in and they hadn’t got anything. Gavin was about to kick a chair in frustration, as more officers reported nothing had been found.

Fuck those guys, he wasn’t leaving without Nines. If those shitheads weren’t here, then his next step was just above them.

He headed up the stairs, sickening creaks of wood drilling inside his ears after every step he took. He almost expected it to give under his weight with how much the boards were screeching. Using the handrail as support, Gavin counted himself lucky to reach the top without breaking a leg.

 Second floor was just as bared as the first, no soul as far as he could see, which was not a lot to begin with. Shitty gearlight was doing little in helping him clear more than a few feet ahead of him, really should’ve changed the batteries of that thing before heading out.

Nines would’ve probably told him something like that.

He got to door number one and opened it only to find nothing but dust and cobwebs, same happened with the next door and the next. Dread crept up in his mind at the mere thought of having gotten the wrong place as each room yield no answers. He found a strap table inside one of the rooms, but no android. Shit no, no, had those fuckers somehow known they were coming? He cleared the first half of hallway in record time and went to round the corner to get to the next section of the house, almost got his face smashed into the floor as he stumbled over something big on his way.

Letting out a curse, he used the wall to balance himself and shinned his flashlight back in that direction, nearly dropped it when he saw what it was.

A corpse, he had tripped over a fucking corpse that was slumped against the wall. 

“Holy…shit,” Gavin recognized him as one of the gang members, a stun baton laying right next to him. As he examined over his body he found a single bullet hole to be the cause of dead, just a few inches over from where the heart was. Poor bastard had probably bleed to dead as he tried to get away, question was from what? 

Either they were attacked by a rival gang, which by the way highly fucking unlikely, or Nines had somehow gotten himself free and was wandering around somewhere but… wouldn’t he have contacted Connor through that weird telepathy connection of theirs if that was the case?

There was a trail of blood leading back to whoever had done this and it was still fresh; this had happened quite recently, meaning Nines could still be nearby. He followed the trail, gun at the ready, and came to a big room.

With the added light provided by a large window he was able to identify three more bodies, either unconscious or dead. The puddle of crimson under some of them had him leaning towards the latter. At least that explained why the place had felt so fucking haunting when they arrived.

However, Gavin didn’t allow his eyes to linger on them but on the lone figure standing tall at the end of the room.

Right there, wearing a mix of black, white and with his back to him, was Nines. Still in one piece and with a discarded gun resting next to his shoes. Gavin holstered his own weapon and let a sigh leave his lungs. He had never been so relieved to see that stupid Cyber life jacket. Seemed like he had gone and taken care of the kidnappers himself in the end, fucking androids.

“Honestly Nines, why do I even bother?” Gavin whispered as he ran the rest of the distance to his partner, already thinking of the ear-full the two would get back to the station. Fowler wouldn’t be happy knowing the rest of the perps were dead and would have a lot to deal with afterwards. He’d seen the weapons, screw what others would say, this had been all self-defense.

Nines hadn’t turned to address him which caused his worry to resurfaced. He swore if those thugs did something to him…Gavin stretched his arm to grab at his shoulder, “hey, Nine—?” And that was as far as he got out.

He saw a blur of movement and the next second, Gavin found himself well acquaintance with a wall on the other side of the room. Head swirled back to connect with concrete as a burning sensation spread from his nape all the way down to his back. He heard the sound of his flashlight making contact with the floor, breaking on impact, and felt like his breath was being stolen from him, as black spots appeared in his line of vision.

“Wh—at, the—fuck?!” He let out between coughs as his knees buckled, causing him to slump on the wall. The pain searing on his back was nothing compared to the one that was quickly taking place in his stomach. He tasted bile, maybe even blood, on the back of his mouth and swallowed. With both hands wrapped around his middle, Gavin tried to figure out what the hell just happened, squinting his vision.

Nines was now looking in his general direction, limbs bent at his sides and eyes dead set on his form. There were two additional bullet holes to match with the one he’d previously gotten, one of those dangerously close to the pump. Light circle on his temple as red as the blood around them.

He’d never seen it with that color but knew, based on what Connor had told him, that red equaled freaking-the-fuck-out in android.

He tried to stand up, using the small nightstand next to him, mind whirring despite the throbbing that promised worse to come. The pain in his abdomen, his partner’s guarded stance and the fact that he'd apparently fucking teleport in a blink of an eye.

It didn’t take much for Gavin to piece things together.

“Nines, the hell...?” The sentient toaster had hurled him across the room like a sand sack, hadn’t even hesitated to do it. “It’s me dipshit,” no reaction. It was like he was make of stone with how stiff he looked, LED not changing, mocking him as it swirled around like an untamed flame.

Something was definitely wrong with the android, that was obvious. Had those pieces of shit deleted Nines’ memories? “Hey Nines, come on. Number one Asshole of the DPD, remember?” Nothing, not even a flinch at the usual nickname.

Okay then.

Gavin chose to approach more carefully this time, hands up in a universal placating gesture, trying to prove he meant no harm to the android. His foot connected with a pile of heavy books on his way over, some fell to the floor with a dull thud. Is was only the years of training as a cop that told him to duck out of the way as he saw something fly in the air.

 A sharp object cut right through his cheek, just below his left eye. He brought his thumb to the wound on reflex and, a second later, heard the distinctive sound of glass shattering behind him. Nines still had his arm outstretched, half-crouched in a low position with the glint of shards of glass clear on the floor around him and that was…just not right.

He knew how Nines worked—what he'd originally been designed for—and in the time the two had spent together, Gavin had never seen him miss, not once. Failure was simply not something he’d been programmed with, no matter the circumstances he’d been able to always hit his target.

There was no doubt in Gavin’s mind that shard had been meant for him but Nines’ aim had been off, not by much but that was exactly the problem.

The new pose allowed him to see his partner more clearly. The android’s eyes were different, they looked so…so dry, too unmoving as they stared at him. Pupils narrowed to the point of being almost non-existence, like they weren’t work—Gavin’s own eyes widened in realization.

They’d blinded him, those motherfuckers had blinded him so he couldn’t leave the house, not only that, had made him deaf for good measure too. That’s it, he was beating the shit out of the perp back in the precinct, once all this was over.

“Don’t worry, I’m calling your twin up here,” he knew it didn’t make any difference to Nines what he said, but he need something to keep himself grounded and talking helped. He looked almost like a predator, head surveying around like a camera, looking for anything that could be considered a threat in his vulnerable state. Trying to find him more like, his mind whispered, so he could be eliminated.

He brought a hand to the radio in his shoulder, clicked on the button, only to receive static on the other end. Oh for the love of-thing had gotten busted after the hit, great.

“Well, looks like it just me then,” he joked as he turned his head back to Nines and froze when those dead eyes found his, set solely on his frame. He could almost see the bullseye on him as he tried to be as still as the corpses surrounding them. Not that playing dead would’ve helped, because Nines had decided that he wasn’t taking any chances anyways. Like a hound following a scent, the android lunged at him at full speed. Rammed into Gavin like a bulldozer and tackled them both onto the floor.

He landed back first, with a two hundred pounds’ android right on top of him. He wheezed with difficulty as a hand got a hold of his shirt in an unrelenting grip and pinned him on the spot. Nines’ other hand went up and formed a fist, ready to drive right through his fucking skull.

“Nines, stop!” He screamed mostly on instinct, trying to get a hold of his limbs to stop his partner from making something he would regret. Willing his mind to come up with something, anything that could show him just who he was about to beat into a bloody pulp. He looked straight into those eyes, eyes that were staring at him but not really seeing him and saw how the fist came down.

“NINES!” Gavin shut his own eyes as a brief breeze passed by. He heard more than felt the planks of wood breaking under the force. Splinters fell on his face, dug into his skin and hit the clean cut on his cheek, causing him to let out a hiss but other than that, he felt no excruciating pain.

The android stopped moving.

“… detective?” Nines voice came from somewhere above him, timid and unsure but it was his. Gavin slowly opened his eyes to find the android tilting his head at him, much like a lost puppy, eyes just as dulled as before. He'd heard the recognition in his voice, had his ears come back up online?

Following the arm at his side to assess the damage, Gavin paled when he saw how Nines’ hand had completely gone through the floor just inches away from where his face was. The force had been strong enough to deactivate Nines' skin, leaving a white plate covered in splinters. Those broken pieces of wood could’ve been his head.

“Ye-yeah plastic, got it in one,” he said, completely ignoring the way his voice pitched in the beginning, but again Nines didn’t react. Confused, Gavin tried to get a closer look to see if something had changed. Almost laughed when he saw it. It seemed that in his attempts at trying to get Nine to his senses, his thumb had ended up right in front of his mouth, the same thumb he had used to swipe the blood from his cheek. Here he was often whining about how this toaster was a walking forensic lab and that was exactly what had saved his life just now.

He was never making fun of Nines’ licking trick ever again.

A hand moved in his line of vision and Gavin recoiled without meaning to, the feeling of almost having his cranium turned into dust still present in his mind. Fingers ran slowly through his skin, pressing almost shyly against it, a total contrast to the cold, killing machine he’d been a mere minute ago. He relaxed his head back and let Nines explore his face, waiting for him to realize on his own accord. Shivers went down Gavin's back as the newly-formed synthetic material travelled from his ear, his eyelids... all the way to his forehead. The android's fake skin almost as cold as a block of ice.

 A thumb crossed over the scar of his nose, rubbed it lightly a few times before retreating.

“Detective Reed,” Nines repeated again, this time with more confidence and Gavin simply squeezed his arm in agreement. Of course he would go to the scars to confirm his identity, fucking figures.

 The hand gripping his clothes loosened, Nines' body leaned closer to Gavin’s as the walls he'd created began to crumble.

“Hi big guy, missed me?” Gavin asked while patting Nines’ cheek, causing the android to let out air he didn’t really needed.

“I…apologize for attacking you they—they tampered with my wireless communications so I had no way of contacting you.” Well, that explained why Connor hadn’t been able to tell where Nines was, “the perps they…. managed to disconnect my visual, auditory and olfactory sensors before I got free from their grasp. I could not get them back up so I—I overreacted…” Gavin squeezed the arm again, suspecting that the shakiness in the other's tone wasn’t the result of a malfunction.

He couldn’t even imagine how terrified it would be to only have taste and touch to move around, throwing the fact that he was in an unknown place and with dangerous people? He had done what was necessary to survive.

“There were… six, six of them but two were able to get away, I don’t know where...”

Putting an arm around his back, he started rubbing soothing circles into Nines’ back which caused the tin can to go lax under the touch. To be honest, he had never given much thought if an android could have emotional breakdown before but, with the way Nines was breathing into his ear and was seeking comfort so strongly, he was starting to believe they could.

“Thirium levels are at 35%, risk of shutting down non—vital functions begin at 22%.” Shit, that was bad. They needed to get out of here and give him some of that power blue juice.

Gavin was about to think of a way of getting them up from the floor, wasn't exactly easy to breath with an android slowly crushing his lungs, when Nines’ head shot up like a rocket and focused on the hall. Palm went down to the floor, fingers spreading widely as his body tensed all over again.

As Gavin got to ask what the problem was, he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to their location. He’d guessed all the commotion was bound to attract some attention at some point. Tilting his head down, he got glimpses of Connor and three more officers making their way to where they were. He let go of Nines’ arm, choosing to grab at his hand instead, and tugged at it.

It made him turn his attention back to Gavin, eyebrows furrowed. “Is it back-up?” Gavin squeezed again, “who…?” Thinking quickly, he wrote the letters on his uniform with his finger and almost like magic the android relaxed.

“Detective,” Same voice, different person.

“Hey tin can, long time no see.” Connor gave him a confused look but soon got close enough to interface with his successor. The moment he let his synthetic skin retreat Nines flung to that arm instantly.

A series of blinks on Connor’s part, Nines’ light head changing into a troubled yellow and then the shorter one spoke. “They installed a transmitter on the back of his neck to cut all communications, old in design but nonetheless, effective.” At Gavin's not so subtle glare he went on to more relevant information. “I wasn’t able to fix the problem with his senses, the commands are not responding at all; we need to take him to a Cyber life store, immediately.”

He was kind of expecting that one, with the sort of night they’d been having already.

“OK toaster, let’s get you fixed,” with Connor’s help he got back to his feet. Nines followed his progress, not wanting to lose whatever contact with reality he had. It was a surprise for him when the android chose to let go on his own and clung to Connor instead. LEDs going wild as the two had their private talk.

As it turned out, they had found the two remaining members hiding in an old shed behind the house. He was glad about it, all things considered, meant more people he could get revenge on for fucking up Nines the way they had.

“He asked to know if you were alright, detective,” Connor said after he saw how Gavin let out a groan of discomfort, putting some pressure onto his back.

“Going to feel the way he launched me to that wall in weeks, but I’ll live. Just tell him that last part,” he requested as more officers helped get them down and straight into Hank’s car.

All the while Nines didn’t dare let go of Gavin, hand gripping his so tightly, he was sure it wasn’t getting any proper circulation, but he endured it.

He squeezed back just as tightly when they got in the back of the car and watched how Nines’ LED went from an ugly yellow to a calmer, bright blue.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is here! A little epilogue to this little fic.  
> I kind of didn't really liked how some parts of this turned out but didn't really know how to improve them either. So I'll let you guys decide if it is any good.
> 
> Also, I might re-read this later because I'm sure there are some(lots of) typos, sorry about them.
> 
> Also, also! I've been running around on the New ERA server on discord lately and it is pretty good! There are a lot of awesome people in here, as well as other beautiful fics, prompts and more. So if you want to join the crazy, here--->https://discord.gg/GqvNzUm

Gavin Reed had never been what you would call the prime example of a patient man. He was always the first to cut the silence with his curt words, the first one to take action in any situation. The people who had the infortune of knowing him could attest that the furthest he had waited before opening his mouth again in a conversation came close to a minute, maybe two.

And after the whole fiasco he’d experienced in short of two hours ago, waiting in the dark was the last thing he needed right now.

Gavin was sitting on a bench right outside of the nearest Cyberlife store Connor had found. An ice pack pressed against the back of his head as he waited for the overpriced toaster to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. Knee twitching up and down despite his best efforts to keep it fucking still. Fingers flexing every so often while his eyes stared at the glass doors a few feet away from him.

 Apparently, staying idle was another thing he’d never been good at.

As much as he wanted to be there with Nines, he doubted his guts could handle any more blood, be it blue or any other color. He still felt nauseous because of that punch the android had scored him, couldn’t hold anything other than water for now. He wasn’t so sure that his presence or ‘comforting words’ would be of any help for the android. He had never been known for being the most tactful individual.

He brought one of his hands up and stared at it. Still… Nines had calmed down during the ride, so at least the red marks he now had on said hand had been worth for something.

The ice had begun to melt away even with the cold temperatures around him and the water was getting caught up between the curls of his hair. Some of them had now damped the back of his jacket, causing shivers to run down Gavin’s spine every time a gust of wind blew on it.

Hank was not fairing much better, maybe the only good thing of this shitty night.  
  
He had his back pressed against the door of his car, arms crossed one over the other. A scarf the only thing protecting his body other than a coat that was frankly too thin for this kind of weather. With the way his teeth were clattering and with how red his nose was, it was nothing short of a miracle he wasn’t sneezing a lung out.

 Gavin brought one hand to his own throat, feeling a small discomfort that had nothing to do with the cold fingers pressing against his Adam’s apple. Would be the cherry on the cake for this night, having to stay in bed for a week because of his shit-ass immune system.

He heard a low muttering getting close to him and turned to find Anderson heading to where Gavin was sitting.

“What?” He said tersely once he was within hearing range. Of course it had no effect on a man who had had his fair share of more than rebellious brat and gang members.

“You did the right thing kid.” Hank tells him, voice giving away a hint of pride.  Gavin groaned and looked for the fifth time at the doors, still nothing.

“The day I seek for your approval will be the day you stop drinking all together Hank.” He hissed and plumped down the ice pack into his laps, not minding the way the water was damping his jeans. Hank still didn’t move at all, just let out a huff of resignation as if he’d been ready for a comeback of that sorts, “what do you want?”

“Never thought I’d see you so worried about an android. That’s all.” _Going straight for the jugular_ , but Hank had never been one to beat around the bush.

“Do you even know the shit-storm Fowler would have sprung on me if something happened to him? I might be rash but I’m not an idiot, I want to keep this job.” Hank raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing a single part of what he said.

“Sure, that’s the real reason.”

“Fuck off,” Hank shook his head with a sigh but obeyed and went back to his spot. He really wanted to punch something. Maybe Connor, once he got out, that’s is if he could get around Hank first. Another gust of wind, he gripped on his jacket more tightly, god he hated this weather, if only he could punch that fucker too.

“Fucking android.”  
  
He should just forget about all this and go back to being an asshole but…after what had happened. After the way Nines had clutched to him on the verge of a panic attack, he wasn’t sure if he could brush the tincan off as he often tended to do.

“I never asked you to save my ass.” He said to the air, looking again at the store. When there were still no changes, he pushed up the sleeve of his jacket to look at his watch and concentrated on the ticking of the hands.

Finally, after another thirty minutes of waiting, two almost identical androids came out. Even from his bench, Gavin could tell the differences were massive. All the bullet holes on his chassis were gone. Smooth, flawless skin visible through the rips of his now ruined clothes. His eyes were no longer a dulled colorless void, but shinning bright with renewed energy, pupils shifting ever so slightly to adjust. They almost seemed to widen in size when they caught sight of his shivering form.

Nines walked slowly to where Gavin was, Connor close on his heels. The first thing Gavin did was take a look at the android’s right temple. His mood ring a flat blue that did not give anything away.

But even if that wouldn’t help him, Gavin could see that the android’s expression seemed somewhat forced, not the usual deadpanned look he often showed around the detective. His eyebrows were draw closer together, wrinkles on his forehead more prominent than normal.  
His mouth was twitching around the corners as if he wanted to say something to him but couldn’t find the words for it.

The look didn’t suit him.

It was Connor who helped him with his mute predicament. He took a step closer to his twin and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll leave you two alone for a while,” with a reassuring squeeze, he let go and went back to Hank, who had gone back to his car in a quest for some heat source.

Nines never took his eyes off him and only when the two were truly alone, he spoke.

“You waited.” He said slowly.

“huh?”

“You waited here, for me.” He repeated, something close to disbelief crossing his features.

“Of course I fucking did,” Gavin said on impulse only to cursed internally at his own stupidity. He quickly changed the subject in hopes of stopping the toaster from asking more questions “so they rearrange your wires huh?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head as he shifted his gaze upwards.

“I’m fully operational again, yes.” Short, simple and to the point like he often did. Still, it didn’t feel right to Gavin. Something was bothering him.

“Ever found out what the fuck was wrong with you?”

“The electric shook I received during the ambush managed to fry connections needed to get some of my systems back online.”

He moved to look at Nines and saw how he was basically giving daggers at the ice park on his tight. Not a minute of being healed and already he was going full nanny mode on him, Jesus.

“Hey, I’m fine toaster, have had worse than this.” His light circle twirled in a dance of red and yellow for a second, then went back to blue.

“Are you sure?” back to yellow again.

“Am I? — yes I’m fucking sure, drop it,” but of course the plastic prick didn’t.

“Nevertheless, I would like to apologize properly this time. You could’ve been seriously injured because of my…reckless behavior. I should’ve analyze the situation more thoroughly.”

“Don’t give me that sophisticated bullshit. Say it as it fucking is toaster, you were scared shitless.” Gavin cut in while pointing his index finger at the android, daring him to say otherwise. He didn’t want to hear about the possible ifs or buts.

Didn’t think about what could’ve happened if another, less experienced officer had found Nines first instead of him.

“I… was.” He sounded so unsure, as if the thought had never crossed his mind until that point. When lesser models could feel and realize which emotion they were feeling pretty quickly under pressure, one would think that a more advanced android would learn about their emotions more rapidly.

 Not Nines apparently.

 “I have never felt such a strong emotion before.” He continued, “during the short time I was active, my deviancy was filled with rather pleasant memories, the most negative one I ever felt came close to irritation…” three guesses as to whom was responsible for that one.

Nines right fingers taps against his thigh one, two, three times and then he clasped them tightly, to the point the synthetic skin start to recede.

“It was…overwhelming, it blinded all my processors and made preconstructing events almost impossible. At the time all I could think about was how I’d never see any of you again, or Connor, or Hank…” He stopped to swallow, a very human action he didn’t have a need for. “I tried everything but nothing worked and I couldn’t—No matter what I do it doesn’t go away.” He was rambling now, conversation turning into a monologue as the android’s head light turned crimson once again.

“Detective, how do human deal with these type of feelings? How do you get rid of them?” Nines wasn’t even trying to keep his impassive façade anymore. Those eyes were swirling with concern as he searched Gavin for answers he couldn’t give.

Elbows collided with knees as he tried his best to think of a way to explain emotions 101 to someone who was a blank sheet regarding these topics.

He turned his attention away from the distressed android and focused on a shop just across the street from where they stood. It was small, clearly old in its design with walls that had seen better days and glass that could use a little more cleaning. The sign was broken, the letter ‘S’ was turning on and off erratically, unable to keep up with the rest.

 His eyes found a little round object staring back at him from the bottom of the window. Something he hadn’t seen since his days in the academy, when he had been much younger but just as stupid. It was something he thought would never need to use again.

He looked back at Nines, his gaze was no longer on him but on the floor, light going wild in a mess of colors as he tried to calm down. As Gavin sat there trapped between two shifting lights, he got an idea.

It was beyond idiotic, taking into consideration that Nines was an android and ergo didn’t have the same needs or thought process. It made him wonder why he was even considering doing it in the first place, but he had seen Connor playing with that coin around the precinct, so maybe.

Maybe…

“Hold that thought,” He got up and before Nines could ask what he meant, he crossed the street and got inside the shop. Close to three minutes passed and he got out, this time with something in his hand.

As he neared the RK900, he tossed the object at him with a quick “catch!”.

With fast reflexes, the android did that easily and brought it close for inspection. His LED got stuck on yellow as his scanners showed the different specifications.

 It was a three inches’ small ball, made out of malleable material, foam most likely, and completely yellow. A happy, smiling face was printed right on top of it. Nines stared at it for what felt like a minute, contemplating in silence.

“What is this?” After what felt like an eternity, he asked. Confusion evident in the way it rotated the yellow ball around, trying to understand why he’d been given such a strange item.

“A stress ball, used to be the shit back in the day.” The explanation didn’t seem to make things any better.

 “… why are you giving me this?”

“Because you’re supposed to squeeze it.” That wasn’t the answer the android was looking for but he complied nonetheless. He got a better hold of the little ball and pressed his fingers into it. The ball moved, adapting to the new form it was given. The android continued to clench his fist until his plastic nails dug through it. “Jesus I said squeeze, not crush!”

“I still fail to see how this is of any relevance.” Gavin gripped the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, and let out a drawn-out groan as he thought how to explain this.

“We don’t get rid of our emotions Nines, we can’t throw then into a trash bin and press delete. That’s not how it works. We can only find ways to distract ourselves from them.” God knows he had tried to escape from them once, look where that took him. A bitter asshole how was hated by almost everyone around him.

“And you meant for this to be my distraction.” It wasn’t a question and with each thing the Tincan said, Gavin grew more and more frustrated with himself for thinking this could’ve ever worked.

“Just— you know what? You’re right. Forget about it, this was a waste of time.” He made an attempt to get back to the car and deem this conversation over. An attempt, because the moment he tried to, something wrapped around his wrist and stopped him from moving more than an inch.

“Nines what the fuck? Let go!” He struggled to get his limb out of the tight grip, it wasn’t hurting him, but it was obvious that Nines wasn’t planning on letting him go anytime soon.

“Tell me.” He tugged Gavin closer to him and leaned in to make eye contact with the smaller detective.

“Holy shit do you even know what personal space means?” Nines ignored his protest and got even closer.

“What you were going to say, tell me.” Gavin tried to keep silent but with every moment that passed, those icy eyes dug deeper into him, causing him to grow nervous as it felt like he was on the other end of an interrogation.

“I was going to say to just squeeze that thing and think happy thoughts whenever you were feeling like shit, okay?!” His yelled had no effect on Nines, who merely tilted his head at him.

“Happy… thoughts?” _Nines I swear to God._

“You said you have a bunch of pleasant memories, right? Just think about what makes you feel that, be it Hank or the other plastic or—”

“or you?” The android said while giving the ball a soft squeeze and then another, waiting for Gavin to give him an answer. Gavin hesitated, surprised that this Tincan would ever hold him in the same pedestal as what was basically his family.

“Yeah, yeah or me.” He finally said.

“I see.” Nines LED turned back to blue at those words, the little yellow ball was released and switch around between hands and fingers. Juggles that would've taken a human at least months to perfect, he made them all in under a minute. “I think I am starting to see how people can find this activity relaxing.”

A loud honk made Gavin jump away from Nines as the two looked back to Hank who was pressing his hand on the button of the steering wheel multiples times.

“God dammit, can’t he wait another minute?” Gavin hissed as he flipped Hank the bird, which only got a longer honk from the old man, “bitch.”

“We still should head back now; the temperatures are decreasing rapidly and humans do need their sleep after all.”

“Whatever.” Putting both hands in the pockets of his jacket to preserved them from the cold, Gavin head towards the car, with the tincan following close behind him.

Nines continued to play with his new possession, testing it limits like a new kid who had just gotten a new present.  He stopped just before they reached the car and called out to the detective.

 Gavin looked over his shoulder.

“Connor told me, how you showed great worry for my well-being during the previous ordeal. At the time, I found it hard to believe.” Nines lips twitched upwards into the beginnings of a smile, “thank you for proving me wrong.” Gavin narrowed his eyes at him and with a huff, he gave his back to the android before starting his walk again.

“Don’t let it get to your head, toaster,” another squeeze and the smile grew bigger.

“I would never, detective.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give Nines a stress ball 2k39 (honestly he needs it)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! Hoped you liked it.  
> Let me know what you thought in the comments :)


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